ACS activities

The DSU student chapter of the American Chemical Society is open to all science majors. The chemistry club visits local elementary schools bringing hands-on science activities, celebrates National Chemistry Week, sponsors guest speakers from scientists, and supports various charities. This year’s charity is the Ronald McDonald House and students will be collecting items in boxes around Walters throughout the fall semester.

In previous years, members filled two grocery carts full of food for the campus food drive, held a bake sale for the Red Cross Haiti relief efforts, and saved Box Tops for local schools. The group also gets together for fun science demonstrations, such as the thermite reaction and blowing up pumpkins. Students in the chemistry club are assisted with applying for summer research internship programs and form relationships with other science majors and faculty members that can last a lifetime.

Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry

Prevention. It is better to prevent waste than to treat or clean up waste after it
has been created.

Atom Economy. Synthetic methods should be designed to maximize the incorporation of all materials used in the process into the final product.

Less Hazardous Chemical Syntheses. Synthetic methods should be designed to use and generate
substances that possess little toxicity to human health and the environment.

Designing Safer Chemicals. Chemical products should be designed to effect their desired
function while minimizing their toxicity.

Safer Solvents and Auxiliaries. The use of auxiliary should be made unnecessary wherever
possible and innocuous when used.

Design for Energy Efficiency. Energy requirements of chemical processes should be recognized for their environmental and economic impacts.

Use of Renewable Feedstocks. A raw material or feedstock should be renewable rather than
depleting whenever technically and economically practicable.

Reduce Derivatives. Unnecessary derivatization should be minimized or avoided if possible, because such steps require additional reagents and can generate waste.

Design for Degradation. Chemical products should be designed so that at the end of their
function they break down into innocuous degradation products and do not persist in the environment.

Real-time analysis for Pollution Prevention. Analytical methodologies need to be further developed.

Inherently Safer Chemistry for Accident Prevention. Substances and the form of a substance used in a chemical process should be chosen to minimize the potential for chemical accidents, including releases, explosions, and fires.